


If I Were a Superhero

by heavydirtysoldier



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friendship, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 05:56:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1887456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavydirtysoldier/pseuds/heavydirtysoldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[INDEFINITE HIATUS] A little boy would have never known what on earth he would be doing in the next ten years or so. A little boy would never find the time to just sit down and think about the future; think about the job he would have; the friends he'll make; the person he’ll marry; the house he’d live in; the life that he would have forever but had never thought about. If I Were a Superhero follows the lives of two boys; from the day they met to the end of their story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Would Be...

**Author's Note:**

> Since there's not much Jeffbastian fics anywhere, I found it to be much needed for me to write a fluffy, romantic multi-chapter one. The story behind this is that while I was on this prompt generator site, the first prompt it gave me was "If I were a superhero, I would be..." and it happened to inspire me, with that inspiration I also decided to try and incorporate a superhero into every chapter. Enjoy :)

A little boy would have never known what on earth he would be doing in the next ten years or so. A little boy would never find the time to just sit down and think about the future. Think about the job he would have. The person he'll marry. The house he'd live in. The life that he would have forever but had never thought about.

A little boy's life held so many things that were much more important than a random moment of contemplation. A little boy would never let those important things go to waste, untouched and unlived.

A little boy of seven years old was running. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he was going as far as his little legs would bring him. He was scared. The sounds of his parents' screams were the only things he heard in his head. They were angry. So angry, and that scared him. Things were being shattered. Plates, glasses, his seven-year-old mind couldn't tell exactly. But the things they were saying shook his little body with tremors of fear.

And the fear he was feeling made him run. That was the only thing that seven-year-old had thought of. Run. Run away. He just didn't want to stay in the house that held a family that was beginning to fall apart.

He hated that his parents fought. They fought almost every single night, and that was really getting to the young boy. The small family of three, for the past five years, was slowly being torn at the seams, and tonight was the final blow. The final moment that brought the destruction of what everyone thought was the perfect little family.

The little boy continued to run as fast as he could. His chest and legs were burning, but that didn't stop him from running. Mommy and Daddy had always told him how stubborn he was. He continued to pump his little legs as far as they could take him.

Big, fat, hot tears rolled down his cheeks, angry with himself, angry with his parents, angry at the world. Why did all the bad things have to happen to him? So much anger and sadness filled the little boy's body as he gradually slowed to a walk, and then, completely to a stop.

He abruptly wiped the tears away from his face, not noticing that he stopped in front of a tree where a little boy his age sat, playing with his superhero action figures. His brown hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. He was panting and sobbing loudly, causing his head to grow light.

The boy under the tree tilted his head, curiously at the other, a shock of blond hair falling into his eyes. He frowned, noticing that the boy with brown hair was crying. He hated seeing people cry. It just made him really sad. It wasn't fair that other people could be so sad, when there were others who were always so happy. Everyone should be happy. Because that's what his mommy told him. People should be happy, not sad.

With that thought in mind, the blond-haired boy got up from the ground, his Captain America action figure dangling from a dainty fist. He cautiously made his way towards the crying boy with a small frown forming on his face.

"Why are you crying?" He asked; his voice so soft and quiet, he thought the other boy didn't hear him.

The brown-haired boy almost jumped in surprise when he heard an unfamiliar voice ring in his ears. His red-rimmed eyes widened at the other boy in front of him.

"Why are you crying?" The blond boy asks once more, the expression on his face showing genuine curiosity. His big, chocolate brown eyes, filled with so much concern and worry, stare up at the taller boy before him, but still, once again he never gets the answer he was hoping for. The other boy stares at him blankly, blinking and unresponsive.

The blond quirked a mouth to the side and shrugged. "Oh, nevermind. It's okay. You don't have to tell me. I'll just give you hug instead," he said softly, a sweet smile gracing his lips, before his arms were around the taller boy in an instant. Although he felt the brown-haired boy stiffen underneath his touch, he didn't think too highly of it. He just hugs the other boy tighter, his smile widening. "Mommy says that hugs make everything better," he explains further, not seeming to want to let go, his action figure falling to the ground, in an attempt to hug the boy much more comfortably.

The brown-haired seven-year-old thought this to be quite random. The tears had finally stopped, and his breathing had gone back to normal. He didn't know why hugging this blond felt so nice. It was quite wonderful. Maybe he was right after all. Maybe hugs did make everything better. Maybe he did need one.

"I'm Jeff! What's your name?" The blond looked up at the taller boy with wide, twinkling eyes, his arms unwrapping from the unnamed boy.

"Sebastian," the seven-year-old boy introduced himself, quite shyly, scuffing his worn-out shoes on the ground.

Jeff's face broke out into a toothy grin. "Sebastian? Like in the Little Mermaid?" He giggled, hiding his mouth behind his chubby fingers. The brown-haired boy just smiles, the excitement of the blond being incredibly contagious, and he couldn't help but think that Jeff was really cute. Jeff did have really pretty hair.

"But can I just call you Sebby?" Jeff asks, his face brightening in hope and enthusiasm.

Sebastian hated being called anything other than Sebastian or Seb, but he just couldn't say no to the other boy. He nods in response, a soft "okay" leaving his lips, a giggle soon following after. He then felt a hand tugging his own and saw that it was Jeff's.

"Let's be best friends, okay?"

Sebastian didn't know that that single sentence would be the best thing that had ever happened to him.

 


	2. Captain America

" _Let's be best friends, okay?"_

_"O-Okay._ _"_

_"C'mon! Let's play_ _!_

* * *

 

Sebastian would have never thought that running away would lead him to getting a best friend. Having a best friend was never in his young, seven-year-old to-do list—not that there was anything on that list anyway—and the boy had never even thought about having a friend in the first place.

Brought up in a strict household, Sebastian became the shy shell of a boy underneath the scrutinizing glare of his parents. The young boy's mind had never grabbed the concept of making friends. He was raised to become the proper young man his parents hoped for him to be. The seven-year-old didn't act like a seven-year-old at all. He was always told to have good manners everywhere he went, and this deprived him from the childhood every kid should have.

At such a young age, Sebastian was already speaking with a rather large vocabulary. He impressed the friends and sponsors of his parents, considering that he was the only seven-year-old who could actually hold a conversation with them.

He didn't have any friends, too shy to walk up to other kids and make any; he never played with toys—action figures and videogames, alike—and he never had his eyes glued to a TV for hours on end (his parents thought that the cartoons kids watched nowadays were too much of a bad influence for their little boy). Sebastian didn't do anything a kid his age should do. In fact, he wasn't a kid anymore. He was morphed and shaped into a young man, knowing nothing of being a kid.

So that was why spending time with the bright ball of excitement that was Jeff was too much of wake up call that the properness was practically shaken out of his young body.

* * *

 

"Okay! I'm gonna be Captain America! And you can be…Iron Man! Yeah! 'Cuz they're like super best friends!" the little blond boy rambled on, as two dainty fists grabbed the two aforementioned superheroes from the pile of action figures that lay before him.

Sebastian just stared at Jeff—his supposed new best friend—with a curious expression on his face. His head was slightly tilted to the side, not really sure what the other boy was talking about. His nose scrunched a bit at the improper English that left the blond's mouth, wanting so badly to correct him.

Jeff noticed the look upon his best friend's face and quirked his little mouth to the side, stopping his small rant about how Captain America and Iron Man were the bestest friends ever.

"Are you okay?" he asked with his wide doe eyes, "'Cuz you don't look so good. Are you hurt?" He bit his bottom lip gently.

"O-Oh, no. N-Nothing hurts," he smiled sheepishly, "I just—I just, I don't know…I really have no idea what those exactly are," Sebastian stammered a bit, looking down at his hands, which were folded on his lap.

Jeff's eyes bugged out of his head in pure disbelief and surprise.

"What?! What do you mean you don't know who they are?!" The boy screeched, "They're like two of the bestest superheroes in the whole universe!"

The brown-haired boy jumped slightly at Jeff's loud exclamation. He didn't know why Jeff was acting like this, so passionate about the toys that he had. They weren't really that special looking. The excitement that was radiating off the other boy was really scaring him. He wasn't used to this kind of emotion. His whole life was mostly spent in a dull and boring environment.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't—I didn't know. I'm s-sorry!" Sebastian stuttered out, staring at the blond boy with a deer-caught-in-headlights expression.

"I guess it's okay," Jeff shrugged, letting out a loud, dramatic sigh (he was way too dramatic for a seven-year-old). He jutted out his bottom lip slightly, a small pout forming on his lips.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian repeated once more in a meek tone.

Jeff looked up, still pouting.

"It's okay…I mean—"

Then, the blond's eyes widened, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"—I could help you know who they are!"

Sebastian didn't know exactly what was happening and what he was getting himself into, but he couldn't help but smile at his best friend sitting crisscross applesauce in front of him. He was starting to warm up to Jeff, and he was starting to like the concept of having a friend.

"Okay, so this is Captain America, the first ever Avenger. He's really cool, and he's my favorite. He was in the army, and he's super strong! He was frozen for like the longest time ever. I dunno how long, but it was a really really really long time…"

* * *

 

" _Captain America is pretty cool."_

" _I know right?! He's amazing!"_

"…"

" _Hey, Sebastian?"_

" _Yeah, Jeff?"_

" _Can I call you 'Sebby?'"_

" _Why?"_

" _It's a nickname, and best friends give each other nicknames, and that's my nickname for you."_

" _Oh…can I call you Jeffy then?"_

* * *

 

"Jeffery! It's time to go inside now!"

The blond boy stopped what he was doing and looked up to see his mother standing at the doorway of the Sterling household. Turning to face his best friend, he could see slight panic washing over Sebastian's features.

"Who's this, honey?" Jeff's mother, Jennifer, walked down the steps that led off from the porch to walk over to the two boys that were playing under the shade of the tree. She squatted down next to her son and clasped her hands together, her elbows resting on her knees.

"This is Sebastian, my best friend!" Her son exclaimed, his face brightening. He was just really excited to finally get to introduce his best friend to his mommy.

With an eyebrow raised, Jennifer looked between the two boys. Jeff was smiling wide, but his friend seemed to look absolutely terrified.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you, Sebastian. I'm Jeff's mom," she said with a kind smile. The only thought bothering her was just how Sebastian even got here. She didn't even know Jeff was having his friend come over, and her son didn't tell her anything.

Seeing Jeff's mom wasn't mad or anything, Sebastian let a small smile spread across his face, and this made Jeff's grin widened even more (if that was even possible).

Jennifer Sterling stood up, the smile still gracing his lips, as she slightly bent over and rested her hands on her thighs.

"Where are your parents, sweetie?" She asked Sebastian.

"B-Back at home," he replied, chewing his bottom lip gently.

"Will they pick you up later?"

When Sebastian shook his head and shrugged in reply, Jennifer creased her eyebrows slightly.

"Oh, okay, sweetie. We'll just have to drop you after dinner then. Jeff, honey, bring your toys back inside, and then wash up."

"Okay, mommy," Jeff said, his arms already filled with all the action figures he brought with him outside, "C'mon, Sebby! Let's go!"

Jennifer shook her head, smiling fondly, as she followed the two boys inside.

* * *

After the toys were put away, and Jeff and Sebastian washed their hands, Jeff's mom joined her son and his best friend at the table with a large bowl of macaroni and cheese in her hands.

"Dig in, boys," she said with a wide smile on her face.

"Thanks, mommy!" Jeff beamed at his mother, before he grabbed the serving spoon and scooped up two heaping spoonfuls of mac and cheese into his own bowl.

"Thank you," Sebastian said politely, and in a much quieter tone, as he took the serving spoon once Jeff was done and helped himself with his own—and much more less—serving of the macaroni and cheese.

Jennifer sat down across from the two seven-year-old boys, watching them with a fond smile on her face and her chin resting in the palm , as Jeff and Sebastian interacted with each other, like how any two best friends should. They were quite an adorable pair.

Jeff was passionately talking about his day at school as Sebastian listened to him speak carefully. The brown-haired boy was quite fond of his new acquired friend. They were total opposites, but Sebastian was slowly beginning to not mind. They ate together, perfectly comfortable in each other's presence.

* * *

"Jeff, baby, go grab your jacket, so we could drop Sebastian off."

"But mommy…can Sebby stay longer?" Her son whined slightly.

"No, honey. We have to bring him home, babe. Sebby's parents must be worried sick about him," she said with a slight nod, ruffling Jeff's blond hair playfully.

Jeff sighed, a pout forming on his lips.

"Fine," he said stubbornly.

With that said, Jeff ran—more like stomped—up the stairs to grab a random jacket off its hook and his Captain America action figure from his toy box. He ran back downstairs, not before tucking his action figure under the flap of his jacket.

"Now, we can go," Jennifer smiled, grabbing her keys and leading the way to the car.

Once the boys were strapped in the backseat and Jeff's mother asked Sebastian where he lived, she turned on the engine and started the drive to his house. As the car moved down the street, Jeff reached over and took Sebastian's hand in his, a wide smile playing on his lips. Sebastian sent a questioning look towards the blond boy, but Jeff only widened his smile and tightened his hold on his best friend's hand.

A few minutes into the ride, Jeff turned to face Sebastian.

"What?" Sebastian asked, noticing the other boy's movements beside him.

"I wanna give you this," Jeff said as he handed the brown-haired boy his Captain America action figure, but when Sebastian caught sight of the action figure in his hands, he frowned.

"I can't have this, Jeffy. It's yours," he muttered softly, trying to give the doll back when the blond boy stopped him.

"No, I want you to have it," he said, smiling widely.

Sebastian furrowed his eyebrows, looking up at Jeff with a confused look in his eyes, his hands grasping the action figure tightly in his hands.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you're my best friend, and best friends give their most important things to each other."

Sebastian smiled and started to think of what he could give to Jeff.

About twenty minutes later, the car stopped in front of Sebastian's house, and right when Jeff's mother unlocked to doors, Jeff refused to let go of his best friend's hand. He was frowning deeply. He just really didn't want Sebastian to go.

"Baby, let go of Sebastian's hand. He has to go ho—" His mother tried to reason with him.

"But I don't want him to go!" Jeff whined, letting go of Sebastian's hand to tightly wrap his arms around his best friend.

"Babe, he has to," Jennifer said with a small sigh, sending her stubborn son a look.

Jeff pouted slightly as he reluctantly pulled away from Sebastian.

"Bye, Sebby," he said softly, leaning forward to quickly peck his best friend on the cheek, "Take care of Captain for me, okay?" Jeff smiled sweetly at Sebastian, whose face was turning a nice pinkish hue.

"I will, don't worry," he whispered back, "Bye, Jeffy."

And for the umpteenth time that same night, Sebastian smiled. He climbed out of the car, and with one last wave to Jeff and his mother, he ran up the porch steps, the Captain America action figure dangling from the tight grip of his hand.

"So he's your best friend, huh?" Jeff's mother asked as they watched Sebastian walk into his house after a woman—she guessed was his mother—answered the door. She started the drive back home and looked at her son through the rearview mirror, who sat looking out the window.

Jeff turned his head to look at his mother.

"Yeah, yeah he is."

* * *

" _You're gonna be Iron Man, and I'm gonna be Captain America, m'kay?"_

" _Because they're best friends like us, right?"_

" _Uh-huh."_


	3. Iron Man

" _Captain, I need back-up!"_

" _I'll be right there, Tony!"_

* * *

A lot can happen in a year. People will come and go, and friendships will be made, but for little Sebastian Smythe. He never thought that he would find a friend like Jeff Sterling.

Jeffery Sterling was really something. He was exciting and loud and all of the things that Sebastian himself wished he were. He was nothing like the rambunctious blond, but that's what made them so compatible. They were complete opposites; and hey, you know what they say: opposites attract.

Jeff with his excitable nature, and Sebastian with his shyness, no one would ever think that these two would ever become friends. But that's the beauty of it all. Jeff's enthusiasm sparked some kind of want in Sebastian's little seven-year-old body, and Sebastian's shyness intrigued the little blond boy to know more about the quiet one.

No one predicted that these two boys would meet, but hey, that's life. And no one ever knows what life would do next. It's a surprise, and with these two boys, life had made something beautiful; something that would change their lives forever. Life had friendship.

Now, these two boys had something special. It wasn't like your everyday run-of-the-mill best buds forever kind of thing. They shared a bond like no other. They were like brothers. And it was fate that brought them together. This bond was strengthened over the course of one year; three hundred sixty-five days of being in each other's lives. After that year, Jeff and Sebastian were inseparable. You couldn't have one without the other.

By now, Sebastian realized that Jeff was the light in his dark, cruel world.

* * *

After a year, Sebastian's family was still in turmoil. His parents fought constantly; almost every day, and from then, the Smythe family started to fall apart. Everything was just spinning into a downward spiral, and Sebastian didn't know when it was ever going to end. He was just an eight-year-old boy; he couldn't understand—he  _didn't_ understand. All he knew was that his parents weren't happy, and it didn't seem like there would be anything to fix it.

The fighting only escalated at this point, and his parents didn't seem like they'd blow off some steam anytime soon. Right when it seemed like a fight was going to be over, another one would pick up right where they left off. It was constant cycle, but it wasn't harmless like the life of the butterfly that Sebastian had learned in school; it was more horrific, more terrifying, and it got even worse with  _Sebastian_ being the recurring topic of their rash discussion.

He could hear them, but he soon realized that they didn't know that he could. They kept yelling their hate, and it scared him to no end. He couldn't leave the house anymore to escape the rising terror that seeped through his bones; not after his parents found out that he'd been running away every time they fought. At least they didn't know where he had been running. He didn't want to lose any more time with Jeff.

Sebastian sat there in the corner of his room, trying to block out the shouts of obscenities and cruel words with his hands clasped tightly over his ears. His eyes were clenched shut as tears rolled down his plump cheeks. They fell to the floor and pooled into small, shallow puddles on either side of him. He didn't want to hear any of it anymore. He wanted all of this fighting to stop.

He wished he were with Jeff right now. His best friend would be hugging him and comforting him like any best friend should, but he wasn't there. The closest thing to Jeff that he was in his possession right now was the worn out  _Captain American_  action figure that was perched upon his lap.

His hands could barely muffle the loud shouts coming from downstairs. His parents continued to have their screaming match. It was like they were competing over who would have the loudest comeback.

" _You're always coming home drunk, Matthew. When will it ever stop?"_

So Daddy came home all loopy again.

" _I'll stop when I want to sto—"_

This codes to: "I'll never stop." Matthew Smythe's drinking problem only escalated from his first drink when he was sixteen. Starting to drink at such an early age led to an addiction that he refused to go to rehab for; but the Smythes had all the money in the world. No one understood why he wouldn't admit his problem.

" _You could kill yourself with all that alcohol in your system. You're not a man made of iron, Matthew."_

The tinkling of metal could heard hitting the metal basin of the sink, so it seems like mother dearest was washing the dishes when the fight began.

" _I don't fucking care."_

" _Stop acting like a fucking child."_

" _Stop acting like a bitch, then."_

There was a pause, and at this point, the shouts softened to conversational tones.

"Matthew.  _So you're going to waste our money on booze, is that it? That's all you're going to do? Waste your life away like it was nothing? Like your_ family _was nothing?"_

" _Did you really think I want this family? I only married you because of your crackhead of a father forced us to get married when I knocked you up."_

But then, it started to escalate once again. The fights were never ending, it seemed, and they would always bring up Sebastian, which would spark a whole other fight. No wonder Sebastian thought that this was his entire fault.

" _Well, what about Sebastian? What about_ our son _? Are you just going to be a horrible father to him for the rest of his life?"_

" _Oh, for fuck's sake, Clara. What about Sebastian? I never cared about that little shit. And if we're being honest here, you didn't either._

" _At least I'm trying, you bastard!"_

And that's when the first plate was thrown. It made Sebastian flinch and brought a chill to his bones. More plates were thrown. He could imagine the shattered porcelain pieces of the broken plates, and it reminded him just like his family. With the first plate broken, their family had begun to shatter. And with more broken plates, it would be too difficult to clean up the mess and fix what was broken.

* * *

 

The fight between Sebastian's parents was on Tuesday. It was Friday, and Matthew and Clara were on their way to the attorney's office to sort out their divorce. Jeff's mom was picking up Sebastian so they could go out of ice cream. His parents had left earlier, but neither of them told their son where they were going; they just left Sebastian with the nanny and housekeeper until the Sterlings arrived to pick him up.

The youngest Smythe sat in a lavish chair in the open foyer, his Converse'd feet swinging a few inches above the white marble floor. The  _Captain America_ action figure was sat next to him (Sebastian always treated him like another person; the toy had even its own chair at the dinner table), and the both of them waited patiently for the doorbell to ring. He couldn't mask how excited he was to see Jeff again. It seemed like it was too long since he saw his best friend, but his nanny, Melissa, would always tell him that he just saw Jeff on Monday; in which Sebastian would reply with a matter-of-fact tone: "I know, but four days is too long to wait for my best friend." His nanny would only shake her head and ruffle Sebastian's hair with a certain kind of fondness that was only reserved for the little boy.

Sebastian's face lit up when he heard the familiar chime of the doorbell. He hopped of the chair with Captain America gripped tightly in his hand as he raced over to the front door with his nanny following behind, who took the liberty to look through the peephole and make sure that it was the Sterlings behind the door. It was. The door was barely opened for a few seconds when she heard a squeal and a loud, happy "Jeffy!" soon following after.

"Hi, Mrs. Sterling," Melissa greeted with a polite smile.

"Don't you remember what I told you? It's just Jennifer," Jeff's mother replied with a laugh.

"Sorry, sorry, M- Jennifer," the nanny said shyly.

Jennifer looked down at the two boys hugging tightly on the porch. "Only three days and they're already all over each other," she remarked with a raised eyebrow, causing Melissa to stifle a giggle by biting her bottom lip.

After the two boys got reacquainted with one another, they parted and Jeff asked the question he always asked when he and Sebastian were with each other.

"You're taking good care of Captain, right?"

And Sebastian, bouncing excitedly on his heels and brandishing the intact action figure in Jeff's face, would always reply with an enthusiastic, "Of course, Jeffy!"

Jeff led the way to his favorite ice cream place,  _Jeni's_ , his hand linked with Sebastian's (Captain America was dangling from his other hand). Before the two went inside, the young brunet stopped in his tracks as he stared up at the sign in awe, the large, orange letters looming over him. He'd never been to a place like this before; his parents would only buy him store bought ice cream, so he never had the experience of picking out his favorite ice cream to put into a homemade waffle cone. He was excited to be able to finally experience something like this, and he was even more excited knowing that he was experiencing this with his best friend.

Sebastian and Jeff bounded into ice cream parlor with matching smiles upon their beaming faces. Together, they pressed their faces against the cold glass of the lit up display. As they breathed onto the clear pane, a fogginess obstructed their view, which got them a slight chastising from the owner, which was done out of fondness for the two little boys.

"What flavor are ya gonna get, Sebby?" Jeff asked, almost whispering in awe as he took in all the flavors of the ice cream shop. Sebastian wasn't any different. His eyes were wide; he'd never seen so many ice cream flavors in his entire life (That might have been an exaggeration; he was only eight).

"Uh, I don't know…" Sebastian said in the same tone, his mouth quirking to the side.

"Take your time, sweeties," the employee— _Laura_ , it said on her nametag—smiled.

The two boys, in fact, did take their time as they continued to stare at the different flavors in the display case. They hummed and spoke in hushed tones, conversing about how the ice cream would taste; conversation that seemed too mature for their age. After about ten minutes, Jeff and Sebastian stepped back from the display with their final flavors.

"So what would you like for today, sugar?" Laura asked, addressing the little blond boy, who dramatized his order by making a long ' _hmm'_ sound and rubbing his chin, just like Sherlock Holmes ( _Sherlock_ happened to be Jeff's favorite show. He was only eight, but he was still bright enough to understand a show like  _Sherlock_. It was just a wonder that his mother let him watch it).

Jeff eventually said his desired flavor and stepped aside to allow Sebastian his turn. They were each given a chocolate-dipped waffle cone that a double scoop of the ice cream of their choice perched on top. The two boys happily licked away their delicious creamy concoctions—Jeff with strawberry and Sebastian with mint chocolate chip—and walked out of the ice cream parlor with Jeff's mom leading the way. Both of their faces were covered with specks of their ice cream, earning them a fond smile from Jennifer as she wiped their faces with a few napkins she picked up.

Once she straightened up, Jennifer let out a quiet sigh as she looked over at Sebastian. The wide smile on the little boy's face made her heart clench. If only he knew where his parents actually were. She could remember the phone call as if it was moments ago.

" _Hello?"_

" _Hi, this is Clara. You're not busy, are you?"_

" _Oh, no. No, I'm not. Is there anything you need…?"_

" _Yes, yes. I do. I was wondering if you can pick up Sebastian and watch him for a few hours."_

" _Yeah- yeah, sure. That would be no problem. Jeff's been wanting to see Sebastian anyway."_

" _Okay, thank you. It's…It's just that my hus- Matthew and I are going to the attorney's office, and I just don't want to put Sebastian through this… He doesn't need to know. Just not yet."_

" _You're welcome, Clara. Oh… Put him through what?"_

" _We're getting a divorce."_

" _Oh."_


End file.
